Motorized personal transporter

Abstract

A personal transporter includes a seat, a frame having a base and a strut supporting the seat, hinged to the base and pivotable between an open configuration and a folded configuration, a pair of driving wheels and at least one non-driving wheel associated to the base defining, in use, three unaligned points on the ground, a pair of electric motors, a pair of control pedals, each associated to a respective electric motor to drive a respective driving wheel, and a support rod for supporting the strut in the open configuration, hinged to the strut and slidably mounted on the base in a guide. The base has a rear portion for supporting the at least one non-driving wheel and a pair of front portions, each hinged to the strut and integrally rotatable with a respective control pedal.

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. A personal transporter for transporting a passenger, said personal transporter comprising:
 a seat configured to accommodate the passenger in a sitting position; 
 a frame comprising:
 a base, configured to form a support surface for feet of the passenger, and 
 a strut connected to said base and configured, in use, to support said seat in a lifted position relative to said base, 
 wherein the strut is movable relative to the base between an open configuration, in which the seat is in a distal position relative to the base, and a folded configuration relative to the base, in which the seat is in a proximal position relative to the base, 
 wherein the strut is hinged, at a first end, to the base, pivotably between the open configuration and the folded configuration; 
 
 a pair of driving wheels and at least one non-driving wheel associated to said base, said pair of driving wheels and said at least one non-driving wheel being configured to define, in use, three unaligned points of support on a ground; 
 a pair of electric motors, each electric motor being configured to supply a driving torque to a respective driving wheel; 
 a pair of control pedals, each control pedal being associated with a respective electric motor to drive in rotation a respective driving wheel, depending on a command imparted on said control pedal by the passenger sitting on the seat; and 
 a support rod configured, in use, to support the strut in the open configuration, said support rod being hinged to the strut at a second end of the strut, opposite to said first end of the strut, and being slidably mounted on the base; 
 wherein the base comprises a guide, in which the support rod is slidably mounted, and 
 wherein said base comprises a rear portion configured to support said at least one non-driving wheel and a pair of front portions, each front portion being hinged to the strut and rotatable integrally with a respective control pedal. 
 
     
     
       2. The personal transporter of  claim 1 , further comprising damping means arranged in said guide and configured to dampen a sliding movement of the support rod in the guide. 
     
     
       3. The personal transporter of  claim 1 , wherein said guide is arranged on said rear portion of the base. 
     
     
       4. The personal transporter of  claim 1 , wherein the rear portion of the base defines a support surface for accommodating a piece of luggage. 
     
     
       5. The personal transporter of  claim 1 , wherein said seat comprises a plurality of portions pivotably mounted on the strut of the frame, and wherein said portions of the seat are pivotable between an open position, in which said portions of the seat jointly define a seating surface for the passenger, and a closed position, in which the seat is in a configuration that takes up a minimal amount of space. 
     
     
       6. The personal transporter of  claim 5 , wherein each portion of the seat has an opening configured to reduce weight of the personal transporter. 
     
     
       7. The personal transporter of  claim 1 , wherein at least one front portion of the base is configured to accommodate a rechargeable battery to supply electric power to the pair of electric motors. 
     
     
       8. The personal transporter of  claim 1 , further comprising a handlebar connected to said frame and configured to provide a support surface for hands of the passenger. 
     
     
       9. The personal transporter of  claim 8 , wherein at least one control device is provided on said handlebar, said at least one control device being operatively associated with the pair of electric motors to drive in rotation each driving wheel . 
     
     
       10. The personal transporter of  claim 8 , wherein at least one control device is provided on said handlebar, said at least one control device being operatively associated with a respective control member for directing the non-driving wheel. 
     
     
       11. The personal transporter of  claim 1 , wherein the strut comprises, at its second end, a handle to allow the personal transporter to be pulled when the strut is in the folded configuration.